‘SpongeBob’ musical blends wisdom + wackiness

How do you sell one of the oddest kid’s cartoons to the mainstream as a Broadway musical? Morgan Blanchard, who plays Patchy the Pirate in “The SpongeBob Musical,” which runs from Oct. 15 to 27 at the Wang, likes to point to creator Tina Landau’s words.

“When it was Broadway, she said, ‘SpongeBob, you can even bring the kids!’ ” Blanchard said. “What that means is this show is for all ages, the humor is aimed at adults but kids can appreciate it. And the messages of the show have relevance to what’s going on today, and people appreciate that too.”

On one hand, why not a SpongeBob musical? After all, in the decade before SpongeBob hit Broadway in 2018, producers looked to punk band Green Day, the movie “Groundhog Day” and the “South Park” creators for inspiration. On the other, SpongeBob is about an anthropomorphic yellow sea sponge who lives in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom, works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, and enjoys karate and unwavering optimism.

But Blanchard, who grew up in Portsmouth, N.H., says much-needed messages peak out from behind the wackiness — a wackiness that scored it 12 Tony nominations.

“Right after I graduated in 2018, I went on tour with ‘The Sound of Music,’ so when I got the role in ‘SpongeBob,’ I felt I had joined a musical that was the polar opposite of ‘The Sound of Music,’” he said. “Then I found scarily similar themes in both shows. Like ‘Sound of Music,’ this show has something to say about now. This show touches on a natural disaster caused by tidal warming and the government using fear to divide.

“You need to come and see it, so I don’t want to say too much,” he added. “But it looks at things like the importance of science and fact.”

Oh, and the songs are a delight.

While Broadway vet Tom Kitt supervised, arranged and orchestrated the music, the actual tunes come from a strong slate of pop music icons and underground heroes. A small sampling of the artists who wrote for the show: John Legend, Cyndi Lauper, They Might Be Giants and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.

“I think the show works because of the inventiveness,” Blanchard said. “There are the songs. And ‘SpongeBob’ is a theater nerd’s dream as a subject. But people will be most impressed by Tina Landau’s vision. It’s really smart, well thought-out and, like the TV show, comes from an honest and truthful place.”

For Blanchard’s local friends and family (and total strangers), the production’s swing through the Wang, where Blanchard saw “Phantom of the Opera” more than a decade ago, gives them a chance to see the actor in something totally unexpected.

“It’s not something from the golden age (of Broadway),” he said with a laugh. “I’m playing a pirate from Encino, Calif., the least likely place for a pirate to be from.”

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“The SpongeBob Musical,” at the Wang Theatre, Oct. 15 to 27. Tickets: $25-$125; bochcenter.org.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2VC4DTy